The present disclosure relates to a pull-out guide for furniture or household appliances. The pull-out guide includes a guide rail configured to be mounted on a body of the furniture or the household appliance, a central rail displaceably mounted on the guide rail, and a running rail displaceably mounted on the central rail.
Generic pull-out guides for furniture or household appliances are known in numerous embodiments from the state of the art. They comprise a guide rail which can be mounted on a body of the furniture or household appliance, a central rail which is movably mounted in relation to the guide rail, and a running rail which is movably mounted in relation to the central rail, thereby producing smooth mobility of a sliding element to be moved in relation to the body of the furniture or the household appliance, for example, a drawer or a cooking item carrier. The known pull-out guides are regularly provided with self-retraction apparatuses for increasing the convenience of the furniture or the household appliance provided with such a pull-out guide. The self-retraction apparatuses will automatically and completely retract the component to be moved to an end position in the furniture or the domestic appliance after the partial retraction of the component.
Such self-retraction apparatuses frequently consist of finely structured mechanical components which are susceptible to soiling. These apparatuses are partially not heat-resistant and are therefore not suitable for installation in an oven due to the heat prevailing therein and the splashes or crumbs of the cooking item which will contaminate the self-retraction apparatuses.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for a pull-out guide for furniture or household appliances with a self-retraction function which can be used in a wider field of applications.
The present disclosure thus relates to a pull-out guide for furniture or household appliances. The pull-out guide includes a guide rail configured to be mounted on a body of the furniture or the household appliance, a central rail displaceably mounted on the guide rail, and a running rail displaceably mounted on the central rail. The central rail is configured to include a double profile that is formed as a trapezoid along a displacement direction of the central rail.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the central rail of the pull-out guide is arranged as a double profile which is formed trapezoidally in a displacement direction of the pull-out guide. As a result, the pull-out guide, after the partial insertion in a direction of its end position, will move automatically to its end position by the guide rail which is mounted with a descending gradient on the furniture or appliance body without being driven by a spring or similar device. The sliding element remains in the horizontal position over the entire path of displacement of the pull-out guide. Alternatively, within the scope of the present disclosure, the descending gradient can also be used in an opposite way in order to provide an opening apparatus for a sliding element. As a result of the configuration of the pull-out guide, in accordance with the present disclosure, a considerably longer self-retraction path is achieved as compared with the self-retraction apparatuses as known from the state of the art.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed herein, including the in appended claims.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, the central rail includes two profiles which are respectively movable in the running rail and the guide rail and of a section which is shaped in a trapezoidal manner and connects the profiles with one another. The width of the section at one end, which is at the rear as seen in the pull-out direction, is larger than the width of the section at a front end of the section. A central rail arranged in this manner can be produced easily, for example, it can be bent from one single piece of sheet metal and it is highly resistant to soiling in its assembly with the guide rail or the running rail.
Alternatively, within the scope of the present disclosure, a pull-out guide can also be made of two partial pull-out guides which are connected with one another at a desired angle. Partial pull-out guides may, for example, include two rails, that is, a guide rail and a running rail. The rails may be advantageously connected with one another via a trapezoidal central piece. In this case, the guide rail is fixed to the body and the a running rail is fixed to a sliding element.
In accordance with a further embodiment according to the present disclosure, the pull-out guide includes a blocking arrangement with which the running rail can be blocked in relation to the central rail at least over a portion of the pull-out path of the pull-out guide. In this respect, the blocking arrangement may, for example, include a locking element which can be fastened to the central rail, a latching element which can be fastened to the running rail, and a control element which can be fixed to the guide rail. The locking element can be latched with or unlatched from the latching element when moving over the control element. A sequence control of the pull-out or insertion process is simply enabled with such a blocking arrangement.
The locking element may, for example, be arranged or configured as a ratchet pawl which can be latched together with a latching element arranged as a detent lug. As a result, the running rail can be blocked with the middle rail during a first phase of pulling out the furniture part to be moved, with the ratchet pawl being latched behind the detent lug of the running rail.
During further pulling out, the ratchet pawl will then be lifted in the end position of the middle rail by a control element which may, for example, be arranged or configured as a ramp and is arranged on the guide rail. The running rail is unlocked and the ratchet pawl is latched behind the ramp, and the guide rail and central rail being locked with one another.
During a subsequent renewed insertion of the movable furniture part, the ratchet pawl will then be lifted by the detent lug on the running rail and will thereby release the central rail. In the state thus blocked with the running rail, the central rail will automatically move to its end position as a result of the trapezoidal configuration of the central rail and as a result of the guide rail which is arranged with a descending gradient in the direction of the rear wall of the furniture or household appliance.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a stop damper is provided at the end of the guide rail which is a rear end as seen from the pull-out direction. As a result, an impact noise of the central rail on the guide rail can be dampened or even avoided entirely during the automatic retraction of the central rail to its end position. Furthermore, a strong impact of the central rail on the guide rail caused, for example, by powerful acceleration of the movable furniture part into the body of the furniture or the household appliance can be dampened in order to prevent damage to components.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a pull-out guide includes a guide rail configured to be mounted on a furniture or appliance body, a central rail which is movably mounted on the guide rail via first sliding surfaces or running surfaces for rolling bodies, and a running rail which is movably mounted on the central rail via second sliding surfaces or running surfaces for rolling bodies. The first sliding surfaces or running surfaces for rolling bodies is aligned in an inclined manner, at least in sections, in relation to the second sliding surfaces or running surfaces for rolling bodies. The inclination of the first and second sliding surfaces or running surfaces may, for example, be in a range of between 1° and 15°, or, for example, in the range of 5° to 10°. The inclination can, for example, extend over an entire length of the sliding or running surfaces. The number of rolling bodies and their shape can, for example, be chosen based on the weight load to be expected.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.